On ECW last week Joey or Tazz said CM Punk and Tommy Dreamer hadn't wrestled together in tag team action but they did at WWE One Night Stand on June 3, 2007. [Thanks to Derek]

Chris Benoit is actually mentioned four times in August's edition of WWE magazine. 1. Rejected covers. 2. How to make your girlfriend a fan. 3. News of the past month. 4. Great American Bashes greatest moments. I just thought you might like to know as it shows how WWE can overlook something as big as their magazine. [Thanks to John Joe]

I was looking at Eugene's profile and I clicked on his video section and there is a section in there called "Underdog Stories" and the number one underdog story is Chris Benoit winning the World title, but when you click the video it automatically redirects you to wwe.com main page. [Thanks to Glen Smith]

Samoa Joe will miss this weekend's TNA house shows because he will be on his honeymoon! The X-Division champion was married this past weekend in California. Several TNA and WWE personalities were in attendance.

TNA announcer Leticia Cline will be appearing on the cover of Playboy in an upcoming special edition.

-- Team 3-D's deal is up sometime prior to the end of this year and there is no guarantee they will be re-signing. Both have been complimentary to WWE in off-screen interviews in recent months, though the feeling is that Brother Ray in particular would have to lose a lot of weight before WWE would consider him. There is also the possibility that he'll return alone as an agent, which he has also discussed in the past. The downside of leaving TNA and going back on the road full-time with WWE is that they would almost certainly have to give up their pro wrestling school in Florida, which they just opened up and put a lot of time and money into. Also, both guys have saved their money and would be able to survive just fine without pro wrestling.

-- Konnan's kidney replacement surgery last week in Tijuana was a big success, and he was at home writing notes to people on MySpace within a couple of days. As noted, his plans are to be back in the ring working a regular schedule by the end of the year. The doctor said that his donor's blood matches his so closely that they could have been brothers, and that the operation went perfectly.

“THIS MARRIAGE IS OVER!” – KAREN ANGLE WANTS A DIVORCEOn Thursday’s broadcast, TNA World Heavyweight Champion Kurt Angle introduced his family to the wrestling world. However, what the wrestling world got to see was exactly how the Olympic gold medalist treats his wife and daughter! At the end of the broadcast, Karen Angle finally had enough of her husband’s ego and told him she wanted an end to their marriage! Samoa Joe was present for the marital meltdown and – after Karen Angle left the ring – Joe told him he was taking his championships next at Hard Justice on August 12!

“THE PUNISHER” ANDREW MARTIN MAKES HIS TNA DEBUTAlso on the huge broadcast, Abyss and Sting faced off in a ladder match with Christian Cage and AJ Styles. A contract was hanging above the ring – if Cage and Styles pulled it down, Abyss would have to stop his war against Cage’s coalition. However, if Sting and Abyss won, the monster would get to choose his match against Cage at Hard Justice. In the end it was Cage, Styles and Tomko using the numbers game to their advantage – that is until “The Punisher” Andrew Martin made his TNA debut and help Sting and Abyss win the match! As a result, Abyss gets to pick the match of his choice against Cage – what will his decision be? Tune in Thursday night to find out!

OTHER NEWS ITEMS FROM THURSDAY’S BROADCAST

- In tag team action it was The Fallen Angel and Senshi (with “Primetime” Elix Skipper) of Triple X defeating “Black Machismo” Jay Lethal and “The Guru” Sonjay Dutt. During the bout, Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley of the Motor City Machineguns watched on and then went face-to-face with the members of Triple X after their win. Is there a war in the making between Triple X and the Motor City Machineguns?

- Also during the broadcast, Team 3D defeated the team of “Wildcat” Chris Harris and Eric Young after Dustin Rhodes took Harris out the match with another attack, allowing 3D to get the win on Young. After the bout, Robert Roode and Ms. Brooks hit the ring to confront Young. Roode said it was Young’s turn to be humiliated as they poured honey on him and covered him with feathers.

- As announced earlier in the week, it will be The Latin American Xchange taking on the Voodoo Kin Mafia on Sunday, August 12 at “Hard Justice”.

- Andrew "The Punisher" Martin posted the following message on his MySpace page yesterday:

"Good morning all! So I guess by now the cats out of the bag and as many of you know, I took my ball to TNA. I never wanted to decieve any of you, trust me I was excited about going but it was something that we tried to make a secret. You have to admit in this day and age that's hard to do, I mean you guys usually know before I do what's going on. It's not that I want to keep secrets from my fans but don't you guys just miss the old way of a good old fashioned surprise in wrestling? Remember when a WWF guy would show up on WCW and vice versa, it made the show always more exciting no matter what or who it was. Remember seeing Lex luger on Raw and Nitro, the same night?...that was a great surprise. I have to thank all you guys...i have never recieved so many positive messages and reactions from you guys about my decision to join TNA and I want to thankyou for that. I also want to make the fans that were at the Impact Zone in Orlando for the greatest reaction I can ever remember getting in wrestling. Most of all I want to thank everyone at TNA for making me realize why I wanted to be a wrestler in the first place!! Something that had been beaten out out of me by years of politics, ass kissing, back stabbing, empty promises that never came, having to liten to "Vinces YES men" because everyone there doesn't want to rock the boat...Thankyou for making me realize that I wanted to be a wrestler because it'....FUN!! and I had forgotten how much fun you can have. I know TNA stands for Total nonstop Action but I learned last night it also stands for Totally NO Assholes!! I want to thank everyone for making me feel right at home right away and seeing first hand what a wrestling company really should be. I'm not here to bash any other companies...I have no regrets but in just one night at TNA I felt more comfortable than I did anywhere else. Everyone is so hands on and so positive. I mean I loved watching the guys watch the matches hoping that everyone had a great match, I'm so used to guys watching the monitor, cutting up the matches only to tell the guys when they got to the back "great match"...I'll be honest I didn't sleep much Sunday night. I was excited, nervous and wasn't sure what to expect but that all changed last night when all the TNA fans gave me without question one of the greatest moments of my career with your huge roar,my ears were ringing and inside I had a smile a mile long...thankyou because to be honest I was ready to walk away from wrestling and it would have been a shame because I would never have gotten to experience what a great group there is at TNA. So please tune in to watch TNA every thursday night at 9pm eastern time on spike tv and see what a great company with a group of guys and girls with all heart can accomplish...I know I had a blast! Take care Andrew"

In a recent interview TNA's Craig Jenkins said that the company plans on holding 96 non-televised events within the next year.

Jenkins also said that iMPACT will be expanded to two hours sometime around September or October. With SpikeTV moving UFC's Ultimate Fighter to Wednesdays, it appears they are clearing room for a long iMPACT.[/b]

- WWEshop.com has made the following new releases: Superstars Travel Chair, John Cena/Edge/The Hardys 2007 Wastebaskets, Boogeyman Worms t-shirt, Cena Beware of Dog t-shirt, Batista/Booker Talking Pen, Cena/Edge Talking Pen, WWE DVD Board Game 3rd Edition, Mysterio Master of 619 t-shirt, Edge 2007 Drawstring bag, CM Punk wristbands, Triple H/Cena Floor Slippers, Superstar Watches, Floor Mats and Double Dog Tags of Batista and Rey Mysterio. They've also released several WWE related school supplies just in time for school to start back. You can also order your copies of The Condemned.

- Speaking of which, Witterlove sent word that although the Travel Chair is pretty cool, it features Chris Benoit on the right arm of the chair.

- Joel Simon, the brother of WWE agent Dean Malenko and son of Professor Boris Malenko talks with The Miami Herald in a new article. Joel, the younger brother of Dean, talks about how drugs and steroids evolved in wrestling, the travel schedules, pressures of the business and more. Check it out at miamiherald.com.[/b]

- The MSG Network has hired Jonathan Coachman as host/reporter for the network's sports and entertainment show MSG, NY. Coachman will begin appearing sometime before the end of August. Coachman will also work as a remote reporter for other NY area sports teams and provide stories for the show.

- Just a few reminders, FOX's "Anchor Woman" which stars former WWE Diva Lauren Jones debuts on 8/22. Also, "Fat March" which features former WWE star Rosey debuts on 8/6 on ABC.[/b]

The case against Jerry "The King" Lawler isn't quite over yet. Sal Corrente has decided to appeal the court decision that was handed down this past Wednesday. When the trial resumes, there will be witnesses from both sides.

The waiver that Corrente signed could only of been used in a civil case. Noone can sign away rights to criminal actions, if that was so then promoters could shoot or stab a wrestler and get away with it. [/b]

Jim Ross has updated his blog at www.jrsbarbq.com today, in this edition he comments on this weeks poor Raw Rating, as well as the recent suspension of Jeff Hardy. Here are a few things he had to say:

The Monday Night Raw rating, when it was released early this week, was not good. When I saw the rating I felt that it was an abnormally large drop and after reviewing the other programs on against us it seemed that none of them experienced an abnormally large increase for the night. So what happened? Where did the viewers go who failed to watch Raw? What TV show did they tune to Monday Night? All valid questions, but there are few answers except that Nielson, the rating service that provides the all important numbers/ratings for TV shows has stepped forward to indicate that there was technical errors in reporting for multiple shows, as I understand it, on Monday night. I don’t know what the Raw rating will end up being, as I write this, but it was a much better rating than was released on Tuesday that began a “sky is falling” approach by many in the wrestling media, some who almost sounded gleeful that the WWE was being faced with more challenges. I have had the same philosophy for year and that is that I never get to euphoric regarding the high ratings nor will I allow myself to get to low on the bad ones. I adopted that philosophy during the Monday Night Wars when WCW kicked our backside 83 weeks in a row even though I thought on many of those weeks the WWE produced the better TV product. That’s akin to a football team playing a great game and still losing. The bottom line is wins and losses and we lost….83 weeks in a row, so I decided to make a conscious effort to not put my self in a position to stay in a funk or depressed for those 83 weeks. I am not Dr. Phil, but that just doesn’t seem healthy.

- It saddens and greatly disappoints me that Jeff Hardy will be absent from the WWE for the next month or so. Nonetheless, I am happy that Jeff isn’t suffering from a serious injury as has plagued so many wrestlers recently. The WWE could have certainly utilized Jeff’s services during these challenging times and no one can dispute the fact that Jeff’s individual popularity wasn’t building toward an all time high if it wasn’t already there. Everyone is human and as the old saying goes “to err is human” but the timing of these unfortunate circumstances are extremely untimely. The “good news” if one chooses to look for some positive in this situation is that Jeff will be back in time, as I understand it, and he will have an opportunity to still make a big impact in the WWE and then move continuously in a positive direction in his career and finally live his dream of becoming the superstar he was meant to be.[/b]

On the official web site for Ziddio.com, which is hosting WWE's "Biggest Fan" contest, they now have a video promo up for Summerslam. In the video they are advertising King Booker vs. "The King of Kings" Triple H.

-- When you go to TNA's YouTube account (youtube.com/tnawrestling), it says that the account has been suspended. Whenever you go to the front page of TNA's official website, the daily "TNA Today" video -- which is hosted on YouTube's server -- would automatically play. They currently have the code for the latest "TNA Today" video embedded on the front page, but it says that it's no longer available to play. This is the second time in which their account has been suspended from YouTube. In mid-2006, they couldn't serve the "Global iMPACT!" video on YouTube servers anymore, supposedly because they were using too much of YouTube's bandwidth. They were allowed to host videos again a few months later.

-- There was talk about Konnan returning to TNA because they had an angle for him. Vince Russo was trying to smooth things over between Konnan and TNA because he wants to use him on the show. Apparently, they've hit a snag as a return to TNA for Konnan is definitely off the cards again.

Jones will make his first in-ring appearance on Thursday, August 9, on iMPACT!, which airs at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Spike TV. He is scheduled to appear on TNA’s “Hard Justice” pay-per-view on Sunday, August 12, from Universal Studios in Orlando, Fla., to reveal his plans for the season.

Terms of the contract were not disclosed.

TNA also has been the wrestling home to such sporting greats as Brian Urlacher, David Eckstein, A.J. Pierzynski, Johnny Damon, Frank Wycheck, Kyle Vanden Bosch and Andre Rison, among others. Jones, a cornerback and return specialist for the Tennessee Titans, was the 6th overall pick in the 2005 NFL Draft out of West Virginia University. He has been suspended for the 2007 NFL season for off-the-field personal conduct matters.

“I am a big fan of wrestling, so I wanted to give it a try,” Jones said. “I respect wrestling and I’m not coming in like it’s just a show. I want to prove that I am the greatest team-sport athlete.”

“Pacman is a gifted athlete and though he has had some serious off-the-field issues, he has a chance to take his suspension and turn it into a positive, something good,” said TNA President Dixie Carter. “We met with him numerous times before signing the contract, and each time we were thoroughly impressed with his desire to change his image, train hard and his commitment to take this opportunity to show a different side of himself.”

Jones initially appealed the NFL suspension, however, on June 12, he withdrew his appeal.

“We are well aware of the controversy that might surround this signing, but it is our goal to help Pacman during his time away from football,” Carter said. “Pacman wants to change his life, so we will do everything in our power to surround him with a positive work environment and people who will help him achieve his goal.”

Jones will be the second active member of the Tennessee Titans to step into the TNA ring. In June, Pro Bowl defensive end Kyle Vanden Bosch was in the the corner of former Titans’ Pro Bowl tight end Frank Wycheck for a tag-team match. Wycheck and Jerry Lynn teamed up against James Storm and Ron Killings, and, with Vanden Bosch’s assistance, Wycheck and Lynn scored the victory.

“Everything I saw from my experience with TNA is, it is a great company. The organization does things the right way,” Vanden Bosch said. “This could be an opportunity for Pacman to show what kind of person he is, not the way he’s been portrayed.”

Jones joins an illustrious list of NFL players who have made the jump from the football field to the wrestling ring, including Bill Goldberg, Steve McMichael, Wahoo McDaniel and Ernie ‘The Cat’ Ladd.

Pacman will be trained at his suburban Nashville home by several TNA pros. TNA co-founder and former World Champion Jeff Jarrett is among those who have already helped train Jones in the ring.

“Over the next couple of months, I think the world is going to see a different side of Pacman, one it hasn’t seen before,” Jarrett said. “You will really see his personality come out, not just his athletic ability. He’s very coachable in the ring and his athletic talent is amazing. He can watch something one time and pick it up. He’s just gifted. He’s the best all-around athlete I have ever seen.”

TNA Wrestling delivers a distinct brand of high-risk, athletic entertainment. TNA’s roster includes the biggest names in wrestling, such as Kurt Angle, Sting, Scott Steiner, Kevin Nash, Christian Cage, Jeff Jarrett, Rhino and Team 3D, as well as the hottest new talent in the business, such as A.J. Styles, Christopher Daniels, Samoa Joe and The Latin American Exchange (LAX). TNA features the innovative six-sided ring and the high-flying “X Division,” as well as concept matches such as “Ultimate X,” “King of the Mountain,” and “Six Sides of Steel.”

TNA celebrated its 5-year anniversary in June. TNA films its weekly cable television show, “iMPACT!” at Universal Studios Orlando. “TNA Thursday Night iMPACT!” airs every Thursday night at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Spike TV. Spike TV is available in 91.6 million homes and is a division of Viacom International Inc.

There has much speculation as to what role Pacman will play within TNA. In recent published reports, his agent and attorney were quoted as saying that he would not be wrestling.

The standard NFL contract prohibits players from participating in activities such as skydiving or motorcycle riding, but no mention is made of professional wrestling.

Titans' head coach Jeff Fisher said last week that wrestling "is not permitted in accordance with his contract".

Jarrett made it clear that Jones will be physically involved in TNA. "He wants to concentrate on the tag-team aspect of wrestling.....Absolutely, yes, he is going to get in the ring".

Jones will make his first appearance on Thursday Night Impact this week in a segment that has already been taped in Nashville. He is expected to debut this Sunday at "Hard Justice" pay per view in Orlando, FL.

-- TNA actually wanted Rikishi as their first choice, not "The Punisher" Andrew Martin. Rikishi's money demands were way too high and so they settled for the former Test.

-- The official TNA page on YouTube is back online. They are hosting the video on the front page of their official website on YouTube today. Their account was suspended for some unknown reason over the weekend and they temporarily hosted the videos on MySpace.com. All the videos TNA posted up on YouTube haven't been deleted as they are all still online, however, if you added some of them to your "Favorites" playlist, you have to find the favored videos and add them again.

-- TNA wants to run 10 PPV shows outside Orlando in 2008. They definitely want to run a PPV in the New York market. They are also looking at Memphis -- their highest rated market -- and Knoxville.

There is strong interest in Matt Morgan (who may have already signed), Nidia (who just had a kid), A-Train (Giant Bernard in Japan) and Shelly "Ariel" Martinez.

Morale has been affected greatly by all of this, as guys continue to work hard and get rewarded with nothing, and new people are brought in and given strong pushes just because they made a name elsewhere.

It is said that a lot of guys now treat TNA as a job, and a lot of the fun has gone out of working there. There have been reports going around of more and more guys, including some pretty major names (not all X-Division guys) who have asked for their release recently and been turned down.

-- Terry Taylor is trying to make a deal with former WWE stars Rikishi and Brian Christopher to have them come in as a tag team. They wouldn't be able to use the 'Too Cool' name obviously, but they are being talked with to reunite Too Cool.

-- After Scott Steiner went down with an injury in June, TNA called Ken Shamrock at the last minute to replace him at the Slammiversary pay-per-view. He said he came close to accepting the deal. Road Warrior Animal ended up taking his place.

-- Homicide was fined by TNA for a post he did on his MySpace page. TNA officials weren't happy with him writing in support of Konnan, who they consider to be a major enemy now. The post has since been removed.

As reported earlier, if TNA finalizes their plan to go to two hours they will be taping shows bi-weekly. This means they will tape each Monday for the show on Thursday and then tape on Tuesday for the show the following week.

The current plan is to move iMPACT to 9-11p.m. ET Thursday nights on SpikeTV. TNA's current contract expires on September 30th, so it is likely that the time change will happen once a new deal is reached. Both TNA and SpikeTV feel that they need at least two hours for the company to increase its profile.